McBroken: The app that tells you which McDonald's stores' icecream machine is broken

A McDonald's customer fed up at being denied icecream has created an app that tells you which stores' sundae machine is broken or out of use. Photo / Getty Images

How many times have you driven through a McDonald's drive-thru eagerly awaiting the sundae you were craving, only to be told the machine isn't working?

Now a customer fed up at being denied ice cream has created an app that tells you which stores' sundae machine is broken or out of use.

Software engineer Rashiq Zahid created the app McBroken, a design that maps the different McDonald's stores where you cannot buy icecream.

"I just made it for fun," Zahid told The Verge.

"I was like, there must be something that can be done about this. But people were like 'Wow, this is the best thing I've seen this entire week.'"

Zahid reverse-engineered the McDonald's internal API and placed orders of more than $20,000 every minute at every McDonald's store in the US to figure out which locations had problem icecream machines.

If the machine is down, the app will mark the location as "unavailable", while all stores with working icecream machines will be labelled "available".

I reverse engineered mcdonald's internal api and I'm currently placing an order worth $18,752 every minute at every mcdonald's in the US to figure out which locations have a broken ice cream machine https://t.co/2KsRwAdrMd

— rashiq (@rashiq) October 22, 2020

McDonald's responded to Zahid, indicating they were on board with the idea.

"Only a true McDonald's fan would go to these lengths to help customers get our delicious ice cream," David Tovar, vice president of communications and government relations for the restaurant, said on social media.

"So, thanks! We know we have some opportunities to consistently satisfy even more customers with sweet treats and we will."

How often have you gone through the drive-thru only to be told their icecream machine is broken? Photo / Getty Images

Last Friday, McBroken counted that around 9.3 per cent of all McDonald's ice cream machines around the US were nonfunctioning, with Seattle and New York City having the largest percentage of broken machines (around 20 per cent each).

Unfortunately, the app is only available in the US.

Thousands of icecream lovers were quick to praise Zahid and his creation, with some calling him a "hero".

"The hero we needed but didn't deserve, one joked.

Another added: "Thank you for your soft-service."